Bøger af Nato Thompson

The most comprehensive monograph on the enigmatic French street artist - now updated to include brand-new work

When their cruel master Marty McGuinn heads off to the Muddy Carnival, two peculiar nocturnal children, Fennel and Isabella, seize the opportunity to explore the city of Barrenwood. Horse drawn carriages, neon lights, the forces of gentrification, and the industrial revolution provide the outside-of-time backdrop as Isabella searches for like minded supernatural creatures and her malicious brother crafts the ultimate disaster.

This cultural reader, edited by Creative Time curator Nato Thompson, gathers more than 100 artists, thinkers and activists to reflect on the historical roots and current manifestations of democracy in the United States. Taking as a springboard the exhibition Democracy in America: The National Campaign, presented by Creative Time in association with the Park Avenue Armory in September of 2008, this compendium includes writing and artwork by Laurie Anderson, Critical Art Ensemble, Liam Gillick, Jenny Holzer, Matt Keegan, Jon Kessler, Mark Tribe and many others; essays by Yates McKee, Doug Ashford of Group Material and curators Sofia Hernandez Chong Cuy and Nato Thompson; and interviews with Critical Art Ensemble's Steve Kurtz, Rene Gabri & Ayreen Anastas and Trevor Plagen--as well as a series of town hall-style conversations with artists and activists from five cities across the country.

OVEREXPOSED is composed of a series of nine unauthorized photos of high-ranking U.S. intelligence officials of the NSA, CIA, NI, and FBI who were related to Edward Snowden's revelations. The appropriated material was found by monitoring photos and selfies published on Internet public platforms without the control of the officials. The images were reproduced with the street art HD Stencils technique, and they were disseminated onto public walls throughout major cities. The artwork satirizes the era of ubiquitous surveillance and overly-mediated political personas by exposing the officials accountable for secretive mass surveillance and over-classified intelligence programs. New modes of circulation, appropriation, contextualization, and technical reproduction of images are integrated into this artwork.

In our chaotic world of co-opted imagery, does art still have power?A fog of images and information permeates the world nowadays: from advertising, television, radio, and film to the glut produced by the new economy and the rise of social media . . . where even our friends suddenly seem to be selling us the ultimate product: themselves. Here, Nato Thompson-one of the country's most celebrated young curators and critics-investigates what this deluge means for those dedicated to socially engaged art and activism. How can anyone find a voice and make change in a world flooded with such pseudo-art? How are we supposed to discern what's true in the product emanating from the ceaseless machine of consumer capitalism, a machine that appropriates from art history, and now from the methods of grassroots political organizing and even social networking? Thompson's invigorating answers to those questions highlights the work of some of the most innovative and interesting artists and activists working today, as well as institutions that empower their communities to see power and reimagine it. From cooperative housing to anarchist infoshops to alternative art venues, Seeing Power reveals ways that art today can and does inspire innovation and dramatic transformation . . . perhaps as never before.